Page 37 of These Unhallowed Halls (Equinox Seasons Duet #2)

“Have you lost your mind, too?” My father pushed out of the chair, wobbling like a baby fucking deer, but he held out a hand, keeping me back when I tried to help him.

“No. No, I’m not some idiot. Whatever happened with her clearly got to you, too.

There probably is something horrible about that church, and I’m not falling for it.

You get my wife on the phone right now.”

I didn’t know what to do. He didn’t believe me. I turned back to Temps, desperate and hurt. Shaking my head, I walked to her. All of this was too much. I’d already been hanging on by a fucking thread, and I was going to snap. I couldn’t keep doing this.

“Mr. Montgomery, I swear to you. I wouldn’t joke about this. My mother is dead. She was just killed moments ago by Pastor Paine.”

“How…You’ve never been. How do you know his name?” Dad stared at Temps in shock, his skin paling as that wound on his head continued to bleed. “What…She’s really…”

Temps just nodded, and when my father looked at me, I held his eye contact. “We saw it, Dad.”

“Well, then we need to call the police!” Dad surged forward, and Caleb had to catch him when he started to fall to the floor.

“I think we need to get you checked out first.” Caleb draped my dad’s arm over his shoulder. “We’ll take you to the hospital.”

“No! No, I want that asshole arrested. He killed my wife! Brainwashed her! Whoever you are, you call the police. Now!”

“Dad,” I rushed forward, putting my hands on his chest, “we can’t call them. Okay? We need to get you help. And this is Caleb. He’s a professor at my school.”

“What are you doing hanging out with a professor?” Frowning, my father’s eyelids drooped, the exhaustion and trauma getting to him. “Shouldn’t you be off teaching? It’s a weekday. Get the police or get out of my way.”

The threat was miniscule considering how my dad had to hang on to Caleb to keep from falling. I directed him backward toward the chair again, looking behind me at Temps and mouthing, “Call 911.”

“I am working with Elizabeth and Temperance regarding the carnival. I was there when they came out. I’m trying to make sure they’re okay. That you’re okay.”

“I’ll be okay when that fucker is arrested.”

We all stared, silently conversing about what the hell we were going to do about this.

Magic was involved. Deadly cult bullshit powered by some evil wannabe god.

We weren’t going to be able to call the cops, ever.

They couldn’t get involved in this. This was witch business, but my dad didn’t know shit about that world.

My world.

Sneaking out her phone from her pocket, Temps stepped outside through the front door, which was still open, while I stood in front of my dad, blocking the view.

He needed the help. Medical care was something we could at least get him.

Caleb stood just behind him, and I looked up, begging him to come up with something because I was at a loss.

I could wipe his memory .

That wasn’t Caleb talking in my head. That was Cerberus. I blinked, trying to school my expression so that Dad wouldn’t notice.

What? You want to remove the event? How would that work?

Dad started to fade in the chair, unconsciousness claiming him. It was a good fucking thing that Temps was calling EMTs.

It wouldn’t work like that, young morrighan.

I would need to remove anything connected to the event.

The altercation with this “Barbs,” us being here.

I could replace it with a new memory, give him something else.

But if he is not going to go after this man, if he is going to rest, it needs to be final.

My stomach dropped as I realized what Cerberus was saying. This needed to be big. My father wasn’t going to let this go. I could tell that much. He needed something final and solid if he was going to accept it and move on with his life.

He was going to learn about Barbs’ death eventually, and I couldn’t come back here and pretend like I didn’t know the truth. I was good at keeping a secret, but everyone slips up at some point.

This tie we would be cutting needed to be precise and irrevocable.

“Dammit.”

Fully passed out, I didn’t worry about my dad seeing me, so I paced back and forth. Temps came in through the front door again.

“They’re on their way. I didn’t give my name. Said I was a neighbor, just in case.”

That was damn smart since we were about to wipe my dad’s memory of us being here. “Dammit!”

Holding back the tears, unwilling to break, I walked to Caleb, looking past his gorgeous blue eyes to Cerberus beyond them.

“You wipe him. We were never here. He’ll learn about Barbs’ death soon enough. I…I want you to include us in it—me and Temps. We’re dead. He’ll never come looking for us, and he’ll be safe.”

“ Are you sure, young morrighan? You would not be able to see him again. ”

“Yes. Just do it. We’ll work with the dean after this is over to have our deaths recorded in town. She’ll have the pull. She’ll be able to make it like we just died with Barbs. Clean break.”

My voice didn’t shake. I wasn’t trembling or sobbing.

I was…okay. I’d been nearly invisible to my dad my entire life.

He didn’t like my music or style. He didn’t like what I was interested in, and he never took the bisexual thing serious.

Always saying, I’d find the right guy someday and settle down like it could never be a woman.

Like I would change and be the good “trad wife” he’d married someday.

Being dead would put a damper on that.

“Lizzie,” Temps was at my side, “we don’t have to do this. We can think of another way.”

“There is no other way.” I looked to Cerberus, whose eyes now looked out from Caleb’s form, and nodded. “Do it.”

He stepped up to my father, putting his clawed hands on either side of his head. It was like when I’d connected before with my fingers on the temples. My father’s eyes fluttered under his lids as if he were dreaming, and then Cerberus stepped back.

“It’s done. We need to leave before he wakes.”

Cerberus walked to Temps and me, taking our hands. I glanced at both of them, knowing these were my people. These were the ones I wanted with me for the rest of my life, and if I was going to have that, we had a fucking carnival to crash.

“Get us back there, Cerbs. We need to keep that wannabe god from waking up.”